Timberwolf Challenge

by Sigmund Brouwer

  “He said he couldn’t stand to watch you lose,” Stu answered. “What do you think about that?”

  “I will never let a girl beat me in a race,” Johnny said.

  Stu turned the camera toward the girl as she got closer.

  “Hello,” Stu said. “Could you tell us your name?”

  “My name is Tammy,” she said in a high voice.Her voice squeaked. It was a strange high voice.

  “I’m from Toronto. I’m visiting my cousin Tom. I beat him in everything. He sent me here for this race. I will beat his friend too.”

  She didn’t smile. She was wearing a baseball cap over long blond hair. She had dark sunglasses. She had lipstick on her face. The lipstick was smeared a little. She was also wearing a Howling Timberwolves hockey jersey and a pair of sweatpants.

  “Are you ready?” Stu asked Johnny. He turned the camera on Johnny.

  Johnny was wearing a Howling Timberwolves T-shirt and a pair of shorts.

  “I’m ready,” Johnny said. “I’ll race her to the far fence.”

  Tammy lined up beside Johnny. She crouched to get ready. Johnny crouched too.

  Stu moved behind them. Stu zoomed in on a fishhook in the grass. The hook was tied to strong fishing line.

  “Hang on,” Stu said to Johnny. Stu set down the video camera. Stu picked up the fishhook. “Big mosquito!”

  “Where?” Johnny said.

  “There!” From behind, Stu slapped Johnny’s right leg really hard. At the same time, he used his other hand to snag the fishhook through the shorts on Johnny’s other leg.

  “Ow!” Johnny said. He rubbed the leg that Stu had slapped.

  “Sorry,” Stu said.

  “You don’t sound sorry,” Johnny said.

  “Do you want to argue?” Stu asked. “Or do you want to race?”

  “Race,” Johnny said.

  Stu picked up the video camera. He zoomed in on the fishhook on Johnny’s shorts. He turned and zoomed in on the fishing line. He showed that the other end was tied to the fence nearby. Then he turned the camera on Johnny and Tammy.

  “Ready...,” Stu said.

  “Set...,” Stu said.

  “Go!” Stu said.

  Tammy and Johnny jumped out of their crouches and sprinted toward the far fence. Stu kept the camera zoomed in on Johnny. It was a very close race. Until Johnny reached the end of the fishing line.

  Johnny was like a dog that runs to the end of the leash and forgets the leash is there. It was strong fishing line. It wasn’t strong enough to make Johnny fall. But it was strong enough to yank his shorts down as the hook pulled loose.

  Johnny screamed. The shorts tangled his legs. He fell.

  Tammy kept running. She reached the far fence.

  “I win!” she shouted in her high voice.

  Johnny got up. His shorts stayed on the ground. Johnny was wearing Barney underwear. Then he realized his shorts were still on the ground. And he realized Stu was taping this with the video camera.

  Johnny screamed again.

  “Shut the camera off!” he shouted at Stu. “Shut the camera off!”

  Stu kept the camera on Johnny. Johnny pulled up his shorts. He ran toward Stu.

  “We have to erase that!” Johnny said.

  “You have played a lot of tricks on a lot of people in Howling,” Stu said. “A lot of people will donate a lot of money to the charity to watch this.”

  Johnny groaned.

  “And best of all,” Stu said, “it’s for a good cause.”

  Chapter Six

  More Trouble

  Johnny and Stu were in the players’ box at the arena. Stu had the video camera. He zoomed in as Tom’s cousin skated toward them. Because she was a girl, she had put on her hockey equipment in the visiting team’s dressing room.

  For this new challenge, they had special permission to use the ice. There were some grown-ups in the stands. They had heard about Johnny losing the foot race to Tammy. Now they wanted to see what would happen on the ice.

  Stu turned the camera toward Johnny.

  “I wonder where Tom is,” Johnny said into the camera.

  “He said he couldn’t stand to watch you lose again,” Stu answered. “What do you think about that?”

  “I will never let a girl beat me in a hockey challenge,” Johnny said into the camera. “I promise you that.”

  Tammy reached the players’ box. She was wearing Tom’s jersey and all his hockey equipment. Her blond hair hung over her shoulders below the helmet.

  “Are you ready?” she asked in a high voice from behind the face mask. It was a strange high voice.

  “Ready,” Johnny said.

  The first challenge was for Johnny to stop Tammy from getting around him on the way to the net. He stepped onto the ice and nearly fell. He got up and went to the blue line.

  Tammy took the puck and skated behind the net. She came out from behind the net. Johnny slowly skated backward.

  She raced toward him.

  Stu spoke into the video camera as he recorded. “Folks, this should be good. Johnny doesn’t realize that there are small pieces of Scotch tape on his skate blade.”

  Right after that, Johnny lost his balance. Tammy skated around him easily and scored on the empty net.

  Then they changed places. Tammy waited on the blue line and Johnny skated out from behind the net.

  Stu kept recording. He spoke into the camera again. “Folks, the tape should wear off before the shooting contest, but it will make it hard for him now.”

  Sure enough, when Johnny tried to go around Tammy, his skates slipped again. He fell into the boards.

  “Aaaagh!” Johnny screamed. Some of the grownups in the stands clapped for Tammy.

  Johnny got up and skated to the players’ bench.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” he said to Stu.

  “You better win the shooting challenge then,” Stu said. Stu threw a puck toward Johnny.

  “I will,” Johnny said. “I promise.”

  Johnny skated toward the net. The tape had worn off his skates, and he didn’t fall.

  Stu kept the camera running on Johnny. From the top of the face-off circle, Johnny fired a wrist shot at the top corner. There were targets in all four corners of the net. The puck missed the net completely.

  Johnny was too far away to hear Stu speak into the camera again. “Folks, Johnny doesn’t know that a piece was drilled out of the puck. The hole was filled with heavy lead. The puck is out of balance. This should be fun.”

  Johnny took another shot. And another. And another. After his ten shots, he had only hit the net twice. But he had not hit any of the targets.

  Then it was Tammy’s turn. She skated toward the face-off circle with a different puck. She hit the net every time and hit a target five out of ten shots.

  “I win!” she said, raising her stick in the air.

  Johnny kept his head down as he skated back to Stu.

  “You just lost big-time,” Stu said to Johnny. “What do you think about that?”

  “I can’t believe my shooting was that bad,” Johnny said. “I think we have to put the video camera in a toilet. I don’t want anyone to watch it, ever.”

  “You have played a lot of tricks on a lot of people in Howling,” Stu said. “A lot of people will donate a lot of money to watch this.”

  Johnny groaned.

  “And best of all,” Stu said, “it’s for a good cause.”

  Chapter Seven

  Revenge?

  Johnny and Stu were hiding behind a tree in Tom’s backyard. Stu held the video camera and interviewed Johnny.

  “For the folks back home,” Stu said, “why don’t you explain what’s happening here?”

  “Sure,” Johnny said. “It’s time to show the girl from Toronto that she shouldn’t mess with me.”

  “Even though all she did was beat you at every challenge?” Stu asked.

  Johnny frowned. “Do you think it’s funny to remind me of that?”
/>
  “A lot of people in Howling will think it’s funny when they see it,” Stu said.

  “That’s why I need the last laugh,” Johnny said. Johnny held up a walkie-talkie. “Tammy’s cousin, Tom, is going to tell me when Tammy is going to leave the house.”

  “And what will you do then?” Stu asked in his best sports-interviewer voice.

  “I’ve put a scary mask over a remote-control dune buggy,” Johnny said into the camera. “I have the remote control here.”

  Johnny pointed at the ground, and Stu followed with the camera. The remote control was on the grass behind the tree.

  “Yes,” Johnny said, “when she steps out, I’m going to race the dune buggy toward her. It will look like a head on the ground. She’ll scream. We will laugh.”

  “Thank you,” Stu said.

  Tom’s voice came over the walkie-talkie. “She’s leaving the house!”

  The door opened a few seconds later. Tammy stepped out. She was wearing a ball cap over herblond hair. She was wearing her dark sunglasses. She looked back to the house.

  “Good-bye,” she said to someone inside.

  “We’re ready,” Johnny whispered into the camera.

  Johnny was watching Tammy. He did not see Stu step back. Stu tilted the camera upward. He zoomed in on a snake hanging from a branch above Johnny. A big snake.

  Then Stu aimed the video camera back at Tammy.

  “Here it is,” Johnny said. “The head without a body is going to make her scream!”

  He fiddled with the remote controls.

  The dune buggy shot across the sidewalk in front of Tammy. The scary mask on top of it looked just like a head without a body.

  Tammy didn’t jump. Tammy didn’t scream. Tammy just shook her head.

  “Huh?” Johnny said. “That was my best trick!”

  Tammy leaned down.

  “What is she doing?” Johnny said. Stu had the camera running. “Is that fishing line in her hands?”

  Stu didn’t answer. He had stepped back. He was pointing the video camera at the snake hanging above Johnny. The snake was attached to the fishing line in Tammy’s hand.

  Tammy pulled on the fishing line. It jerked the snake free. She let go of the fishing line.

  The snake dropped on Johnny’s shoulders.

  “Aaagh!” Johnny screamed. “Aaaggh!”

  He screamed again as he fought the snake.

  Then he realized it was made of rubber.

  “What kind of trick is this?” Johnny said. “Hey! Stop the camera!”

  “I can’t,” Stu said. “You have played a lot of tricks on a lot of people in Howling. A lot of people will donate a lot of money to watch this.”

  Johnny groaned.

  “And best of all,” Stu said, “it’s for a good cause.”

  Chapter Eight

  A Life Lesson

  Johnny and his dad stood outside the Howling public library. A big sign explained that a special video would be shown at seven o’clock. The sign asked people to donate money to the charity if they liked the special video presentation.

  It was seven o’clock.

  “Really,” Johnny said to Dad, “I don’t need to watch. I already know what is on it.”

  “Everybody in Howling knows what is on it,” Dad said. “That’s all they have talked about for days. How a girl from Toronto beat you at every challenge. This is going to raise a lot of money.”

  “But everyone is going to laugh at me,” Johnny said. “I wish I could go home.”

  “You need to be there to laugh too,” Dad said. “That way they will know you are a good sport. Especially after all the tricks you have played on people.”

  “This is a life lesson, isn’t it?” Johnny said.

  “Yes,” Dad answered.

  “I wish life lessons could be more fun,” Johnny said. He followed his dad into the library.

  It seemed as if everybody in Howling was there. They were gathered in a room with a big television.

  Stu and Tammy stood at the front near the television.

  “That’s Tammy?” Dad whispered.

  “Yes,” Johnny said, “that’s the girl who beat me at every challenge.”

  Tammy was wearing a dress. And high heels. Her lipstick was very red. It was smeared. She looked more like an ugly boy than a pretty girl.

  “You were right,” Dad said. He laughed. “This is not going to be a fun life lesson.”

  “Hah, hah,” Johnny said. “Can we stand in the back?”

  “Sure,” Dad said. “It won’t matter. Everyone is looking at you anyway.”

  This was true. Johnny tried to smile back at everyone. He had played a lot of tricks on people in Howling over the years. They looked very happy to be here.

  “Where’s Tom?” Dad whispered to Johnny. “I thought he would love this the most.”

  “Maybe he decided to be nice to me and not come to watch,” Johnny said to Dad. “Maybe that would be a good life lesson for you to learn.”

  “Not a chance,” Dad said. “This is going to be good. I’ve already decided I’m going to donate twenty dollars.”

  Stu waved at everybody.

  “Hello,” Stu said. “Please let me introduce you to Tom’s cousin. Her name is Tammy.”

  “Hello,” Tammy said in her strange high voice. “It is nice to be in Howling. I have enjoyed my visit to this wonderful small town.”

  Everybody clapped.

  “You all know that the team is trying to raise money for a good cause,” Stu said. “We hope you will like the videos and donate money.”

  More clapping.

  Stu began the video. It showed Tom and Stu in Johnny’s bedroom. Tom had a glass of water. Tom and Stu screamed and jumped when they saw the scary mask. They screamed more as Johnny grabbed their legs.

  This video clip made all of the people in the library laugh and clap. When they stopped laughing, Stu played the next video. It showed his dune buggy trying to chase cows. It showed how the dune buggy got stuck. It showed what the black cow did to it.

  Everybody laughed and clapped again. Stu stood and spoke to the crowd.

  “It was Johnny’s idea to take videos of tricks played on people in Howling,” Stu said. “So Tom and I decided to make sure we tricked Johnny instead. We hope you enjoy the rest of the show.”

  Stu began playing more video.

  Chapter Nine

  Tammy?

  The next part of video showed Tom asking Johnny if he would try to play tricks on Tammy. Then it showed the race on the playground between Johnny and Tammy. Everybody laughed when they saw the fishhook that Stu put on Johnny’s shorts.

  “What!” Johnny said from the back. “A fishhook!”

  Everybody laughed.

  “Yes,” Stu said. He stopped the video. “I slapped your other leg so you wouldn’t feel me put the hook in your shorts.”

  Everybody laughed harder.

  Stu started the video again. It showed Johnny running until his shorts fell down. Stu rewound thevideo and played it again in slow motion. Three more times. Some people laughed so hard they began to cry.

  “I’ll donate thirty dollars!” Mr. Wright shouted. He was the principal at the Howling school.

  “Me too,” Coach Smith said. He was probably remembering when a mouse in Johnny’s hockey bag crawled under his shirt.

  Stu showed the hockey challenges next. Everybody laughed at the tape-on-the-skates trick. They laughed at the wobbly-puck trick. They really laughed at the dune buggy with the scary mask and at the snake-falling-out-of-the-tree-onto-Johnny’s-shoulders trick.

  When the video was finished, everybody stood and clapped.

  “I’ll donate fifty dollars!” Coach Elwell shouted. Once, because of Johnny, a bucket of water had fallen on Coach Elwell’s head.

  “I’ll donate sixty dollars!” Johnny’s dad shouted. “This is great.”

  Johnny looked at his dad with a sad face. “You too, Dad?”

  His dad shrugged. �
�This is a great life lesson, son. Worth every penny to me.”

  Stu waved his hands again after all the people had shouted out how much money they would donate. So far, the videos had raised six hundred dollars.

  “That’s not all,” Stu said. “We’ve saved the best part for last, haven’t we, Tammy?”

  “Yes,” Tammy said, “there was a reason that Johnny couldn’t beat me. There was a reason he didn’t fool me with his dune buggy and the scary-mask trick. I knew what was happening all along. I knew he would be under the tree where I had already put the rubber snake.”

  Tammy took off her high heels.

  Then she took off her dress. She was wearing a Howling Timberwolves T-shirt underneath. And a pair of gym shorts. She took off her dark sunglasses. Finally she took off the blond wig. Then people figured it out. Tammy wasn’t a girl. Tammy was a boy.

  “Hello, everyone,” Tom said. He wiped the lipstick off his mouth. “It sure was fun to fool Johnny!”

  Everybody laughed and clapped really, really hard.

  “Thank you,” Tom said. “We will sell copies of this videotape to anybody here. All the money goes to charity.”

  Tom said, “Is there anything you would like to say, Johnny?”

  Everybody turned around to look at Johnny.

  “Yes,” Johnny said. “You guys did a great job. I will give you twenty dollars for a copy of the videotape so that I can remember this for a long time. After all, it is for a good cause.”

  Everybody clapped for Johnny because he was such a good sport about it.

  “Don’t worry, Johnny,” Tom said. “If we win the hockey tickets, we’ll take you to the Flames hockey game with us.”

  “See,” Dad said to Johnny, “you learned a good life lesson, didn’t you?”

  “Yes,” Johnny said. It looked like they would win the four tickets. One for Stu. One for Tom. One for Johnny. And one for Johnny’s dad to drive them to Calgary to watch the Flames’ game.